October 05/08 - Diamond Aircraft flew its D-JET for the first time with the new Williams FJ33-5A engine today. “This is an important milestone for the D-JET program as we will be using this and subsequent aircraft for actual certification flights,” said Peter Maurer, President of Diamond Aircraft.

D-JET S/N 003, flown by Chief Test Pilot Daniel Ribeiro and Flight Test Engineer Gerard Struthers, departed from Diamond Aircraft's London, Ontario facility for a successful 1.4-hour flight with completion of all intended test points.

Serial number 003, originally powered by the Williams FJ33-15 engine, had first flown on April 14th 2008.  Following Diamond’s decision in March 2008 to upgrade from the FJ33-15 to the FJ33-5A (formerly designated FJ33-19), S/N 003 was reconfigured to accept the new engine, with new engine inlets and fairings, as well as other detail aerodynamic modifications, including the production version of the winglets.  
 
Although the D-JET will be certified initially with a derated version of the FJ33-5A engine, the configuration is designed to accept the higher thrust rating that Williams International plans to release in future, based on the expected successful in-service experience with the current engine. “When Williams introduced the new engine, we had to decide whether to continue with the original FJ33-15 or upgrade to the FJ33-5A right away, even if it meant a program delay,” added Maurer. “In the interest of all D-JET owners, we chose to upgrade to the larger engine and create an optional future performance upgrade path. This decision has been universally welcomed by our customers, as it will preserve the value of even the first delivered aircraft.”

The D-JET is designed for the owner pilot, with attainability from both a financial as well as pilot qualification perspective. The combination of an extremely roomy cabin and three large baggage compartments, with a familiar flight envelope to FL250, the FADEC-controlled FJ33 engine and the Garmin G1000 3-screen flight deck, makes the D-JET the ideal Personal Jet, for pilots stepping up from high performance piston singles, twins and light turboprops or downsizing from costly-to-operate, older, light business jets.

D-JET S/N002, a full scale fuselage/cabin mockup and a functioning full cockpit D-Jet Simulator are on display at NBAA Convention 2008